It Takes Four to Tango
by MagicGirlinAMuggleWorld
Summary: Sirius and James think Remus is hiding something from them, and it makes them jealous idiots. But it all gets sorted in the end :-) Wolfstar and Jily. Based on Dawson's Creek episode "Four to Tango."


"Cheers, boys," Madame Rosmerta said, setting two butterbeers and a firewhiskey on the table in the corner of the Three Broomsticks currently occupied by James Potter, Peter Pettigrew, and Sirius Black.

"Cheers," Sirius said, grabbing the firewhiskey and saluting her with it before downing it in one go. He grimaced and slammed the glass on the table.

"All right, Pads?" James asked, with a somewhat bemused expression. He and Peter clinked their glasses of butterbeer and enjoyed the warm drink slowly. Perfect for a rainy, late November afternoon in Hogsmeade. They'd probably stay at the Three Broomsticks for an hour or two, enjoying their drinks and playing Exploding Snap, then head to Honeydukes to stock up on sweets before heading back to the castle. Not the most exciting adventure, but now, in their sixth year, after a miserable fifth year full of studying, lectures, and personal failures and growth, they'd come to appreciate a peaceful trip to Hogsmeade from time to time.

For Sirius, today was not one of those times. He seemed irritated by everything, drinking and scowling and grunting in response to questions, his grey eyes as stormy as the sky outside. He waved his hand to signal Rosmerta for another firewhiskey, then stared out the window with his chin propped in his hand.

James kicked him under the table. "Oi, I asked you a question! What's the matter with you?"

"Nothing," Sirius said. Suddenly, he turned away from the window and folded his hands on the table. "Actually, something is wrong, but not with me. I think Remus lied to us."

James raised his eyebrows. "About?"

"He said he's not feeling well. But I think he just didn't want to come to Hogsmeade with us."

"It's true, he didn't seem ill," James said slowly. "But why wouldn't he want to spend the day in Hogsmeade?"

"I'm not sure," Sirius said, frowning. "He's not—he wouldn't be avoiding me, right? I thought we've been all right this Term."

"Avoiding you? Why would you think that?" Peter asked, his voice cracking on the last word. James and Sirius turned to him in unison. Peter let out a little "Eep!" of surprise.

"Wormtail," Sirius said, his gaze intense. "What do you know?"

"No, no, no—nothing!" Peter stammered. "I don't—it's nothing, I don't think Remus is avoiding you at all—"

"Then what's he doing, Pete?"

"Look, you can ask him about it when we go back, all right? Let's just enjoy our afternoon in Hogsmeade and not think about Remus at all."

"No, it's too late for that. Now we've got a mystery to solve," James said, frowning. Then his eyes lit up behind his glasses. "The Map! Have you got it on you, Wormtail?"

"Er, what? The Map?"

Sirius twirled his wand between his fingers and grinned wickedly. "I'll take it from you if I have to, Pete."

"There's no need for _threats_, I'm just trying to do Moony a favor! He asked me not to tell anyone!"

"So you _do_ know where he is," James said, eyebrows dipping with the accusation.

"We'll get it out of you eventually, Pete, you might as well make it easy on yourself."

"You two are a bloody menace, I swear on Merlin's grave," Peter sighed. "You'll tell Moony I tried to keep you away, won't you? You'll tell him this isn't my fault?"

"Absolutely," Sirius said, clapping him on the shoulder. "Now, are you really going to make me duel you for the Map, or will you just tell me where he is?"

"I'll just take you. Follow me."

*.*.*.*

Half an hour later, James, Sirius, and Peter crept up to the entrance of the Great Hall, taking positions behind pillars or squashed against the doorframe like poorly-trained spies.

"There," Peter said, gesturing into the cavernous room. He pressed his back against the doorframe and squeezed his eyes shut like he was willing himself to disappear.

James and Sirius peeked around their pillars and into the Hall. The four House tables were pushed against the walls, and a short woman with long, slender legs and shiny brown hair pulled into a tight bun stood in the center of the room, tapping out a rhythm on the floor with a cane. "_One_—two, three! _One_—two, three!" she trilled.

Around her, four couples danced a halting waltz. Sirius could see Prakash Patil and Laura Worthington, Alice Fortescue and Frank Longbottom, and Edith Macmillan and Denny Foster. The dance teacher was blocking the fourth couple partially from view as she stood next to them, adjusting their position. Still, Sirius could see Remus over the top of the instructor's head, his brow furrowed in concentration as he tried to copy her demonstration.

Sirius turned to James and Peter. "Ballroom dancing? He's joined Madame Arabesque's class? I didn't think anyone was interested in those lessons when McGonagall mentioned it."

"Least of all Moony," James said, raising his eyebrows at Peter. "What changed his mind?"

Peter shook his head frantically. Just then, Madame Arabesque took a step to the side, giving them a full view of Remus' dance partner. James actually gasped.

"He's here with Evans?" he asked in a strangled voice.

"Er…" Peter said.

"Wormtail," Sirius said, in the same tone he'd used at the pub.

"They asked me not to tell! I wasn't supposed to find out in the first place!"

"Why not?" James demanded.

"I don't know! Remus said Lily's got ideas about the timing of it all, and—"

"All right, that's it," Sirius snapped. "We're going in."

"We are?" Peter squeaked.

"You bet we are," James said. He threw an arm around Peter and Sirius' shoulders and began to march towards the entrance of the Great Hall.

But Peter wriggled out of his grasp and backed away. "Maybe you two should just—I don't have a partner for dancing, anyway, and I promised Moony…" He shrugged apologetically and scurried off, calling, "Sorry!" over his shoulder as he disappeared down the corridor.

"Coward!" Sirius yelled after him.

James shook his head. "Ah, let him go. We don't need his help for this part. You ready, Padfoot?"

"Ready, Prongs."

They stood on opposite sides of the entrance and peeked into the room again. Then, when the instructor's back was turned, James grabbed Sirius by the shoulder, and they waltzed into the room like they'd been doing it all their lives.

This worked, in part, because they sort of _had_ been doing it all their lives. Orion Black considered ballroom dancing a mark of aristocracy, and had made sure his children were skilled at it – along with piano, French, and Wizarding Chess – from a young age. The Potters, on the other hand, had put young James in tap dancing classes one winter merely to get him out of the house for a few hours, but they quickly found he had a surprising aptitude for dancing of all styles. He'd taken swing, modern, and yes, even a ballroom class. It had been his least favorite, but it had proved useful on the rare occasions his parents forced him to attend society events.

Now, he thanked his mum under his breath as he and Sirius glided across the floor. After a brief scuffle over who would lead (Sirius won), they delicately danced their way over to Lily and Remus. They fell in beside them, James and Sirius appearing to float on air where Lily and Remus looked like their feet were stuck in quicksand. James caught Lily's eye and smirked.

"All right, Evans?"

She froze, and Remus stumbled.

"Wha—yes, I'm fine. What are you doing here?" Lily hissed, barely paying attention to Remus as he tried to guide her back into their slow box-step.

"Same as you, I guess," James said lightly. Sirius dropped his hand briefly and gave James' left hip a gentle push, easing James into a graceful turn. Remus raised an eyebrow.

"Moons," Sirius said, nodding a greeting. He put his hand back on James' waist, never breaking rhythm as he arched an eyebrow at Remus and looked him up and down. "I thought you weren't feeling well."

"I'm not," Remus muttered, as Lily stepped on his foot.

"You don't _look_ ill," James noted.

Remus opened his mouth to respond but was interrupted by Madame Arabesque's soft French accent.

"All right, eef you 'ave learned well, eet will be no problem for you to perform wis a different partner, non?" The instructor clapped her hands. "Sweetch!"

Lily blinked in surprise. "What?"

"You heard her, Evans," Sirius said. In the blink of an eye, he spun James towards Remus and tugged Lily towards himself. "Now you'll get to see how it's really done."

Remus, Lily, and James were all frowning now.

"Pads—" James said, as he caught Remus coming out of his spin.

"I've got this, Prongs," Sirius replied, his tone casual. He settled his left hand on Lily's waist and held up his right hand for her to hold, which she did, reluctantly.

"Sirius, what are you doing?" she asked as they caught the rhythm and began to waltz.

"I was going to ask you the same thing, Evans," Sirius said, as he pulled her a bit further from Remus and James. "What are you doing here?"

"Learning to dance, obviously."

"With Remus?"

"I repeat: _obviously_."

He studied her for a moment, his lips pursed thoughtfully, his feet still gliding easily through the steps.

"Do you fancy him?" he finally asked.

"Obviously _not_, Sirius!" She dropped her hand from his shoulder and stared up at him in confusion. "What are you on about?"

"Nothing." He shrugged casually, but his brow furrowed just a bit. "Does he fancy _you_, though?"

Lily's mouth dropped open in surprise. "_What_?"

"Sweetch!" Madame Arabesque called again. Sirius growled out a sigh and twirled Lily into James' arms. She blinked at him, her mouth still open in shock, as he caught her around the waist and picked up the steps without losing a beat.

"Why didn't you ask me?" he demanded, before Lily even had a chance to get her bearings. "I thought we were friends now." James sounded genuinely wounded.

"We are! We're good friends, I think, aren't we?" Lily said, still flustered. "Wait, ask you what?"

He looked a little embarrassed. "Remus told me you wanted to learn to dance before the holidays, and he agreed to help you. But why didn't you come to me first? I'm a better dancer than he is, you know."

"I know, but—I just thought you'd take the piss."

"Why would I—"

"You two!" Madame Arabesque cried, drawing Lily's attention away from James. "We are dancing, not wrestling! What ees zees?"

Lily and James turned to look where the teacher was pointing and found Sirius and Remus scowling at each other, each trying to simultaneously put an arm around the other's waist and block the other from holding _his_ waist.

"Will you stop? Your hand goes on my shoulder—"

"No, my hand goes here!" Remus turned to Madame Arabesque and pointed at Sirius. "He just shows up in the middle of class and wants to take the lead! I'm leading!"

"Is that what you call it?" Sirius snorted. "Why don't you leave it to someone who's had some training?"

"Exactly my point! This is a _lesson_. Why are you even here, you already know how to do this!"

"You could learn, too, if you weren't so scared of letting someone else take control once in a—"

"Messieurs! I know ze early days of courtship are complicated for young lovers, non? But whatever bizarre mating ritual you are engaged in right now, eet will 'ave to wait! Zere is no yelling during ze waltz!"

Sirius nearly choked on the end of his sentence. "Excuse me, _what_?"

The other couples in the class turned to look at them. Edith Macmillan snickered. James glared daggers at her from behind his glasses, and she sobered quickly, her eyes on the floor.

"Mating ritual?" Remus spluttered. A flush was creeping up his neck and into his cheeks, and his amber eyes were wide. "That's not—I'm—we're not—"

There were few things Remus hated more than being the center of attention, and Sirius was never going to get the answers he wanted if Moony was too humiliated to speak for the rest of the day. He looked around for a distraction, and, seeing none, improvised.

_Prongs will forgive me_, Sirius thought, just before he whipped around dramatically and pointed an accusatory finger at Lily and James. "If anyone here's involved in some sort of bizarre mating ritual, it's them!"

"Oi!" James yelled, glaring at Sirius.

"Oh, for the love of Merlin!" Lily cried, stepping away from James and throwing up her hands.

Edith was snickering again, and Alice and Frank looked smugly pleased. James ran a hand through his hair and mouthed '_Traitor'_ in his best friend's direction. Sirius shrugged an insincere apology.

But Madame Arabesque dismissed Sirius' declaration with a wave of her hand. "No, no. Zey are well beyond zat, non?" She smiled at Lily and James and put a hand on each of their shoulders, pulling them back towards each other. "Zeirs is a…_settled_ sort of chemistry. You can tell by ze dancing. So gentle, but passionate. 'ow long have you two been a couple?" She nudged them to start dancing again.

"We're not a couple!" Lily said quickly, but she reached for James' hand as instructed.

"We're _friends_, I think," James said, through gritted teeth. He pulled Lily closer against him and watched her eyes widen, but she matched him step for step. "Friends who keep secrets."

"Oh, get over it, Potter!" Lily snapped. "Yes, we're friends. So what I don't tell you every mundane detail of my life! Maybe I thought my interest in ballroom dancing would bore you!"

"Or maybe you didn't want me to know you're learning to dance to impress some bloke back in Cokeworth." James tapped Lily's right foot with his left, demonstrating a sort of sliding movement, which she copied. At the end of the movement he dipped her, and she tossed her hair over her shoulder as she returned to an upright position. Then she stomped her foot, interrupting the flow.

"Argh! You can't possibly be so thick!"

"See?" The dance teacher looked proud, despite the unconventional ending. "Zey dance and zey bicker like zey 'av been doing it for years!"

"The bickering, yes. The dancing, no," Remus said, bewildered. "But either way, they aren't _dating_."

"Of course not," James said. He tugged on his hair then gestured at Lily. "She'd never date me. Would rather date the giant squid. Or my mate, apparently."

"For the love of Merlin, I'm not dating Remus!"

"Hmm, bad luck, Moons," Sirius said derisively. "Skipped Hogsmeade and this isn't even a real date."

Now it was Remus' turn to throw up his hands. "Have you lot gone mad? Lily and I are not remotely interested in each other. Never have been. No offense, Lil," he added.

"None taken." She turned to James, her eyebrows dangerously high on her forehead. "Is that really what you think? That I fancy Remus?"

"Well, erm—"

Lily put her hands on her hips. "Potter, you absolute cabbage. You know me better than anyone!"

"I do?"

"Yes! At least, I thought you did. So maybe I didn't ask you about dance lessons because I wanted this _one_ thing to be a surprise!"

"Ah yes, ees important to keep the relationship fresh, non?"

"We are not in a relationship!"

Madame Arabesque raised a thin eyebrow. "Are you certain?" she trilled, shrugging one shoulder. "Dancing is ze language of love, after all."

"No! We're—" James blinked. "Wait, you're learning to dance to surprise _me_?

"No," Lily snapped, glaring at him. She folded her arms across her chest and frowned. "Well, not exactly, but—I heard there's dancing at your mother's Christmas Eve party."

"My mum's party? You're coming this year? And…oh," James said. "Oh. But what about Remus? Why's he here?"

"I told you, I'm just helping her!" Remus held up his hands in innocence. "What is wrong with you two?" He glanced around as he said it, but Sirius was nowhere in sight.

"Ah, perhaps you need to 'elp yourself, hmm? Young meester Black 'as left."

"He left? What do you mean, 'help myself?'

"Ah, you still do not know?" Madame Arabesque shook her head. "Well, eet ees not for me to say. But I wish you luck. You cannot dance without a partner, after all."

*.*.*.*

Sirius was sprawled on his back on a bench in the courtyard, shooting sparks from his wand into the grey sky. He could make sparks of any color, but today they were mostly red. Red for Gryffindor. Red for anger. Or red for embarrassment, maybe. Red for love?

Ugh. He shot some blue sparks in the air, just to prove he could, then stopped shooting sparks at all and began levitating nearby objects – a rock, some twigs, a pair of trainers someone had left behind. He was amusing himself by making the shoes walk around the courtyard, like they were worn by an invisible boy, when Remus stomped over to his bench with his hands on his hips.

"Pads, what the fuck is going on?"

"Nothing." Sirius sat up quickly, abandoning the marching trainers.

"Oh?" Remus raised a skeptical eyebrow and nodded towards the castle. "Then what was that? In there?"

"Nothing!" Sirius repeated, sounding more petulant than he would've liked. "I just…I thought you trusted me. Didn't expect you and Evans to have your own secrets, I guess."

"What does Lily's secret have to do with you and me?" Remus demanded. "Lily asked me not to tell, so I didn't. She really wanted to surprise Prongs."

Sirius was still pouting. "You told Pete."

"Not really, he overheard her ask me after Charms." Remus sat on the bench next to Sirius and spread his hands. "You really think I'd tell him a secret before I told you?"

"Maybe." Sirius shrugged and looked away. "Is this about last year? About…what I did to you?" He looked back at Remus, even though he feared that every feeling he'd ever felt for the boy in front of him was present in his eyes. "I'm still sorry, you know," he said softly. "Every single day."

The color drained from Remus' face. "Sirius, no. It's not that," he said. He took a deep breath. "I can't say I wasn't hurt—that I'm not still hurt, sometimes, but you've changed. We all have. We're past that. You're my best friend."

_His best friend_, Sirius thought, his heart clenching just a bit. The declaration disappointed him more than it should've.

Still, he gave Remus a half-smile. "And a better friend than I deserve, Moony. Thank you." He poked him in the thigh to lighten the mood and added, "But you could've told me about dance lessons, I would've helped Evans _and_ kept her secret. Certainly better than Wormy did." He chuckled.

Remus was quiet, his eyes scanning Sirius' face slowly, deliberately, like he might be quizzed on it later. Sirius wanted to reach out and touch him, trace the freckles along his cheekbone, rest his fingertips on Remus' pink lips, but that's not the sort of things friends generally did to one another. He gripped the bench tightly in order to keep his hands occupied.

After a moment, Remus sighed and looked down at his lap. "You're better than me at nearly everything, you know that, right? I'm not athletic, I'm not graceful—"

Sirius snorted and rolled his eyes. "No, you're just bloody brilliant. You see more details and solve puzzles more quickly than anyone I've ever met. You're like some sort of arsehole Auror, you are. Who gives a toss if you're not an athlete?"

"Thanks, I think?" Remus cheeks flushed. "But you know if you studied at all you'd get better marks than me in every lesson, too. You're the one who's brilliant, Sirius."

"Maybe in some things." Sirius shrugged like the compliment didn't set his heart racing in his chest. "So what?"

Remus took a deep breath. "So…maybe Lily wasn't the only one who wanted to impress someone at the Potters' Christmas Eve party."

"With your waltzing?" Before he could stop himself, Sirius barked out a nervous laugh. Because surely, _surely _his _friend _Remus wasn't saying what he thought he might be saying. "No offense, Moons, but based on what I saw in there, you should stick to dueling."

Abruptly, Remus stood up. "Forget I said anything, all right? I'll see you later, Pads."

"No, wait, Moony. Please, wait," Sirius said, wishing he could hex himself and his bloody big mouth. He grabbed Remus' hand, and Remus let him pull him back down to the bench. "I shouldn't have laughed. I'm sorry." He bit his lip, then smiled awkwardly. "Now, who do you want to impress?"

This time, Remus was the one to explode with laughter. He stopped quickly when he saw Sirius staring at him, one eyebrow arched, and shook his head, his expression bewildered. "You're really asking me this, Pads? Maybe you're not so brilliant after all," he muttered.

Sirius cringed. He'd deserved that, but it still stung.

"Well, I don't know!" he said, letting go of Remus' hand and wiping his palms on his trousers. "I don't want to assume anything this time. I assumed you were trying to date Evans, in there, didn't I, and made a bloody arse of myself."

"That's true," Remus agreed. Tentatively, he reached over and placed his hand on top of Sirius'. "Why _did_ you do that?"

Sirius snorted. "Now who's being thick?" He tried to make it playful, full of bravado, but the truth was, they were dancing out here far better than they'd done in the Great Hall, sashaying and swinging closer and closer to the truth before spinning away like out-of-control ballerinas. Maybe it was time to go back to basics.

He heard Madame Arabesque's voice in his head, but this time, the rhythm was a countdown – _one, two, three, GO!_

Sirius took a deep breath, then leaned his head on Remus' shoulder so he wouldn't have to look him in the eye as he made his confession. "I was jealous, Moons," he finally admitted. "You went out with Evans—or stayed in with Evans, I suppose—and you hid it from me, but you told Pete, and—I don't know, I guess I wasn't sure if I'm…as important to you as…other people are." He closed his eyes before adding, "As important to you as you are to me."

Remus went utterly still. After a long moment, he swallowed hard. "What are you saying, Sirius?"

Sirius spoke softly, his eyes still closed. "Just that, if you were learning to waltz to impress me, and not Evans or any other bird, you don't need to. You're already the most impressive bloke I know."

"Wow. Laying it on a bit thick, aren't you?" Remus said, but his voice was scratchy, and Sirius could hear both the smile and the pride it held. Then Remus jiggled his shoulder, lifting Sirius' head a bit. "And what's your obsession with me and Evans, anyway? You must know by now that there's nothing romantic between us."

Sirius opened his eyes just as Remus' fingers touched his cheek, tilting his face up so their mouths were only inches apart. Remus stared down at him, pleased and vulnerable and hopeful, and Sirius grinned.

"That," he whispered, "is the best thing I've heard all day."

He leaned forward at the same time Remus did, and their lips met gently, an almost incidental brush, followed by another, firmer, and another, and then Sirius' fingers were stroking Remus' freckles exactly the way he had imagined, and Remus' hands were gripping Sirius' waist, and it was perfect.

Remus kissed Sirius' lips one more time as he pulled away. "Well," he said, his voice breathy, "shall we go back in?"

"I suppose so," Sirius conceded, sighing. He laced his fingers through Remus', just because he could. "Despite my initial misgivings, Madame Arabesque seems to have good instincts about dance partners." He raised his eyebrows, a smile playing at the edge of his mouth. "Actually, based on her reading, I expect Prongs and Evans are probably engaged by now."

Remus grinned and stood from the bench, pulling Sirius to his feet and wrapping an arm around his waist. "Maybe we'll dance at their wedding," he whispered in his ear.

Sirius stepped closer to Remus, chest to chest, and put one hand on his shoulder, the other still clasping his hand. He kissed him low along his jaw and smiled. "That sounds perfect, Re. I'll even let you lead this time."

...

AN: This was a birthday gift for my dear Mia (YouBlitheringIdiot), and after a bit of time to reflect, I really like how it turned out. It's based on the Dawson's Creek episode "Four to Tango." Let me know if you like it, all comments, emojis, keyboard smashes appreciated! xo/p


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